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Budget, Education & City Services
Action on school siting and seating bills to reduce class size and change formula for seating needs.
WHEREAS, Manhattan Community Board Five is located in DOE Manhattan School District 2; and
WHEREAS, School District 2 elementary and middle schools suffer from endemic overcrowding; and
WHEREAS, In 2016, the NYC Council appointed a task force to assess and recommend mitigation to school overcrowding in NYC; and
WHEREAS, The City Council issued a report in March 2018; and
WHEREAS, The Planning to Learn Report is a detailed analysis of the space challenges faced by New York City’s public school system and a comprehensive set of recommendations to address the ongoing and severe overcrowding that exists in New York City’s public schools; and
WHEREAS, Community Board Five applauds the City Council initiative and concurs with the findings of the report; and
WHEREAS, Following the publication of the report, 5 bills were introduced by NYC Councilmembers to address the issue;
INTRODUCTION NO. 461: By Council Members Dromm and Menchaca
TITLE: A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the City of New York, in relation to requiring the Department of Citywide Administrative Services to notify the Department of Education and the School Construction Authority when city-owned or leased property of an adequate size is determined to have no current use
INTRODUCTION NO. 449: By Council Members Dromm and Menchaca
TITLE: A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the City of New York, in relation to requiring the Department of Education to post subdistrict maps online
INTRODUCTION NO. 729: By Council Members Kallos and Menchaca
TITLE: A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the City of New York, in relation to requiring the Department of Education to post methodology and data for determining identified seat need
INTRODUCTION NO. 757: By Council Members Gibson and Menchaca
TITLE: A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the City of New York, in relation to the creation of a school siting task force.
RESOLUTION NO. 289: By Council Member Vallone
TITLE: Resolution calling on the New York City School Construction Authority to more clearly communicate to the general public how city residents can submit potential school sites and the guidelines used by the School Construction Authority in considering whether a suggested school site meets the evaluation standards used by the authority.
WHEREAS, Community Board Five supports the bills introduced to the City Council; and
WHEREAS, Community Board Five recommends amendments to strengthen the bills to better achieve the goals stated in the Report:
INTRODUCTION NO. 461: By Council Members Dromm and Menchaca
TITLE: A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the City of New York, in relation to requiring the department of citywide administrative services to notify the department of education and the school construction authority when city-owned or leased property of an adequate size is determined to have no current use
PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO INT 461: The new law should require that the Department of Education and School Construction Authority also notify the local community board, the city councilmember, and the relevant Community Education Council, as well as making the information available for parents and education advocates on a publicly available website.
INTRODUCTION NO. 449: By Council Members Dromm and Menchaca
TITLE: A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring the department of education to post subdistrict maps online
PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO INT 449: The new law should require the Department of Education to post capacity statistics and data at the sub-zone level.
INTRODUCTION NO. 729: By Council Members Kallos and Menchaca
TITLE: A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring the Department of Education to post methodology and data for determining identified seat need
PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO INT 729: The new law should require the CEQR formula to be amended to reflect the impact of as-of-right as well as special permit development that does not reach a threshold for mitigation.
INTRODUCTION NO. 757: By Council Members Gibson and Menchaca
TITLE: A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the City of New York, in relation to the creation of a school siting task force.
PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO INT 757: The proposed law should require that the task force issue a report AND make recommendations, and the proposed law should require a parent representative - such as a CEC representative, the Panel for Educational Policy Chair, or an education advocate - on the task force.
Therefore be it,
RESOLVED, Community Board Five recommends support of the 5 bills introduced in the City Council in March 2018 following the publication of the report Planning to Learn, The School Building Challenge; and be it further
RESOLVED, Community Board Five will continue to work with legislators and education advocates to address the dire overcrowding of the elementary and middle schools that serve our school age population.